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Joseph L. Galloway, military correspondent and author, was the guest speaker at the Penn State Forum Speaker Series held Nov. 19 at the Nittany Lion Inn on Penn State's University Park campus.

Image: Patrick Mansell

Heard on Campus: war correspondent and author Joseph Galloway

November 19, 2013

Heard on Campus: war correspondent and author Joseph Galloway

"I saw things that I would never see again and I hope none of you ever see, and that none of my children and grandchildren ever see. The things you see in combat, on a battlefield -- I can't even describe. And I'm pretty good at describing things. I will tell you that it changed my heart; it changed what I believe in. I left there knowing that I owed my life to those young men who gave up theirs so that I might live. I left there knowing that I owed them -- I owed them telling the truth about what it was like where they died and how they fought, and trying to make people understand how very, very serious and terrible combat is.

"We should never, ever go into a war without knowing what we seek; without knowing that it's definitely in the interests of our national security; without knowing that the American people support it fully and are willing to give their sons and daughters to the effort. If those things are not clear, don't go, because it's not worth it."

-- Joseph Galloway, author and retired senior war correspondent for Knight Ridder Newspapers, describing his experiences as a correspondent during the Vietnam War. Galloway spoke Nov. 19 at the Nittany Lion Inn on Penn State's University Park campus as part of the 2013-14 Forum Speaker Series.